‘Sunday league’ – Gooners not impressed with club’s first January signing

Author:
Barnaby Lane
January 7, 2018

Arsenal have completed their first signing of the January transfer window after Greek youngster Konstantinos Mavropanos joined the club in a £1.8 million deal earlier this week.

The 20-year-old signed from Greek Super League side PAS Giannina, for whom he had made 16 appearances so far this season in what was his breakthrough campaign.

Mavropanos made his debut for PAS towards the end of last season, but had established himself as a regular in the first team before his move the The Emirates.

The youngster is widely considered as one of Greece’s finest young talents, and his performances had attracted attention from league leaders Olympiakos, who were keen to add Mavropanos to their roster – however were pipped by the Gunners to the signing of the U21 international.

Mavropanos is the latest in a number of stars to emerge from Greece and move to Europe in recent times, with Panagiotis Retsos, Kostas Manolas and Sokratis Papastathopoulos all now with Bayer Leverkusen, AS Roma and Borussia Dortmund respectively.

Giorgos Christovasilis, PAS Giannina president, said of the deal: “This is a historic day for PAS Giannina because a footballer of our team has managed to sign for a club as big as Arsenal.

“We are grateful to have seen a player graduate from our group. We wish both the footballer and Arsenal the best.”

The defender is widely expected to go out on-loan this month, which will come as music to the ears of the Arsenal fans, who are – to say the least – less than impressed with the calibre of their latest addition …